1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telephone systems and related methods that use a limited number of call appearance keys yet receive and process numerous call appearances in excess of the call appearance keys available.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many businesses have multiple telephone lines. In fact, it is common in a business for most every employee to have his/her own telephone number. Often businesses buy telephone systems that use a central telephone unit located at a receptionist's desk or at the front desk of the business. The central telephone unit receives all the incoming call appearances directed to employees of that business. The receptionist fields the incoming call and then directs the call to the appropriate line in the system.
The central telephone unit often has dedicated call appearance keys, wherein each call appearance key is assigned to a different telephone number. As a result, a receptionist can tell what number was dialed by viewing the call appearance key that flashes when an incoming call appearance is received. If the telephone number dialed is specific to one of the business' employees, the receptionist can tell for whom a received call belongs and can either answer the call or direct the call accordingly. For example, in a company Mr. Jones may have a telephone with his own telephone number. When a person calls the company using Mr. Jones' telephone number a specific call appearance key will flash at the receptionist's central telephone unit. Recognizing that the incoming call was received on Mr. Jones' number, the receptionist can either answer the call on behalf of Mr. Jones or direct the call to Mr. Jones directly.
As a business grows, the number of telephone lines used by that business may eventually outnumber the call appearance keys present on the receptionist's central telephone unit. When this happens, many different telephone lines are often grouped together at the same call appearance key on the central telephone unit. As a result, the receptionist can no longer tell from what number an incoming call appearance is being received. Consequently, the receptionist must answer the incoming call and must inquire about its purpose and destination. This places much larger duties on the receptionist and results in many calls being placed on hold for longer periods of time.
A need therefore exists in the art for a central telephone unit that is specifically designed to handle more incoming call appearances than there are dedicated call appearance keys. As such, a receptionist can tell for whom an incoming call is directed without a company having to upgrade to more sophisticated telephone equipment having a larger dedicated call appearance capacity.